


the final name

by trashy_cas



Series: natsumeweek [3]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Day 5, M/M, lol sorry i'm late, natsumeweek, prompt: ten years later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-22
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-11-03 14:17:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10968957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashy_cas/pseuds/trashy_cas
Summary: Ten years after he arrived on the Fujiwara's doorstep, Natsume comes home.





	the final name

**Author's Note:**

> For natsumeweek, day 5! The prompt is: ten years later. Sorry I kinda skipped around, I didn't have enough time to do every prompt that I wanted to :3  
> Much thanks and love to my wonderful [beta](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wistfullywishing/pseuds/wistfullywishing)! She is an amazing writer, and deserves so much love and support!  
> (also, special thanks to user Niji from the natsume discord chat for helping me out with some of the translations! you're the best! <3)

 

_The road is still dark. Dew beads on blades of grass, pooling in little wet patches that brush the tops of his jeans. He rounds the familiar corner, pace quickening slightly, messenger bag clutched against his chest tight._

It has been far too long.

_“Hurry up, Sensei,” he says to the spot of grass that’s rustling suspiciously. “We’re going to be late.”_

_“Don’t tell me what to do, idiot,” replies the shifting patch of grass, revealing a mass of white and orange fur, black eyes narrowed in annoyance. “We spent the entire night traveling, why should we have to hurry for them?”_

_“Because,” says Natsume Takashi, “Touko-san will worry. Besides--” He turns to face an unimpressed looking Nyanko-sensei, just as the first traces of light begin to appear in the sky._

_“There’s something I want to do first.”_

~

By the time the sun has touched the tops of the Fujiwara’s house, Natsume is at the front door. He knocks, tentatively. It has been years, after all.

The door slides open with a loud _bang_ to reveal a very flustered looking Touko-san. Her eyes well up at the sight of the handsome young man at her doorstep, his expression as sheepish as ever. _“Takashi!”_ She launches herself at him in an eager tackle-hug, and Natsume nearly falls over.

For an aging woman, she certainly has a lot of strength, he thinks, amused. He looks down at his foster mother with a smile. “I’m home,” he says softly.

“My goodness, let me take a look at you!” she cries, fussing with his jacket. “My, my, you’ve gotten even taller! And your _hair_ , it’s--”

“You’re right, I need to cut it soon,” Natsume says shyly, running a hand through his bangs. “I’ve let it grow for too long.”

“No, no! I love it,” Touko-san insists, her eyes sparkling. “I guess there aren’t any hairdressers good enough for my Takashi-kun in the city, are there?”

“Well--”

“It’s all right, Takashi, it looks very handsome on you!” She notices Nyanko-sensei beside him, licking a paw disinterestedly. “Oh my! Nyankichi-kun, is that you? You haven’t changed one bit.”

She scoops him up and gives him an enormous hug, too. Natsume has to hide his delighted expression behind his hand at Nyanko-sensei’s face when the life is nearly squeezed out of him. _Wait till Taki gets her hands on you, Sensei,_ he chuckles to himself.

“Well, now that you’re here, let’s eat some breakfast, shall we?” Touko says, letting go of a wheezing Nyanko-sensei. She steps back to allow Natsume entrance, and calls into the house, “Shigeru! Takashi-kun is here!”

They head down the familiar halls to the kitchen, where breakfast is already laid out for three, morning light streaming in through the windows cheerfully. It’s just as Natsume remembers, from the little orange calendar on the wall to the shiny teacups stacked neatly in the cabinets. “Takashi,” says Shigeru brightly when he enters. “It’s good to see you, son.”

Natsume nods, cheeks warming slightly at the word _son._ “You too, Shigeru-san.”

“Let’s eat, let’s eat!” Touko flutters about, passing chopsticks and bowls of rice to everyone. “We need to fatten you up,” she accuses Natsume, who looks at Nyanko-sensei with a bewildered expression. _What did I do?_

“You’ve gotten too skinny! I hope you’ve been eating three meals a day, young man.”

“She’s right, you know,” nods Shigeru in agreement. “You need to be like Nyangoro here, see? He’s as happy as ever.”

Natsume swears he hears an indignant choking sound coming from under the table, and elects to ignore it.

“So, Takashi,” continues Shigeru. “How have you been? It’s been quite awhile, hasn’t it?”

Natsume smiles. “Yes, it’s been too long. But I’ve been doing well,” he says, thinking of his apartment in the city. “A little too loud, sometimes, but I like it there. There’s a nice park near my workplace that reminds me of here.”

Touko’s expression lights up, her face delighted. “That sounds lovely, Takashi. Are you getting along with the others at work? What’s it like, being a teacher?”

“It’s really fun, actually. I love getting to meet all the kids, even though they are a handful sometimes. Oh,” Natsume adds, with a small chuckle, “Kitamoto joined us a couple months ago, so I get to see him everyday. He usually lets me know what’s going on with Tanu--with the rest of the gang.”

Shigeru and Touko exchange a knowing look, the former clearing his throat loudly. “Speaking of your old friends from high school, Takashi,” he says, a little too nonchalantly. “I saw Tanuma-san in town just the other day! He says that Kaname is in town, too. Why not swing by and drop off something to say hello?"

Natsume tries his best to hide his blush. From the way Shigeru and Touko are sporting matching grins now, he concludes that he isn’t doing a great job at it. “Really? I suppose I should go say hello. It has been years, anyway, and I haven’t been to their shrine in forever…Yeah, I’ll go!”

From underneath the table, Nyanko-sensei finishes licking breakfast off his paws. “Idiot.”

~

_He walks through the trees as quietly as he can, feet stirring up the tops of the forest floor. He can smell the seasons changing from spring to autumn, the slight crispness in the air that browns the leaves, makes their edges crackle and curl._

_Tucked away in his old messenger bag rests a thin book, the green cover faded from time, but the ink inside no less bright as the day it was written._

_He walks up on the hill where it all began, sets a knee down at its peak. Beside him, a tall tree soars, its branches reaching for the morning twilight sky._

_He smiles._

_“Hello again, Grandmother.”_

_~_

Natsume isn’t quite sure how to approach this.

“Are you just going to stand there like an imbecile, or are you going to do this?” says Nyanko-sensei with a yawn. “I could be bullying the Dog’s Circle into giving me some good sake right now, and you’re here being a wimp again. Just _knock_ , already.”

“I’m not scared, Sensei. I’m just—what if it’s awkward?”

“Oh for crying out loud, you two are always awkward, so why does it matter? Here, I’ll do it, just move aside--”

“Sensei, wait--!”

The front door of Tanuma’s house slides open, revealing none other than Tanuma Kaname himself, his black hair as untidy as ever. Natsume immediately flings off a crabby Sensei from his shoulder and gives an awkward half-bow, the oranges he had brought as a gift swinging comically on his arm. “Hello!”

He peeks a glance through his bangs to look at the man above him. Even now, despite Natsume’s full adult height, Tanuma is still taller.

 _Some things never change_ , he thinks. A few seconds pass. He can feel his cheeks start to warm. _This is awkward._

He wonders what kind of face Tanuma is making.

_“Natsume!”_

Suddenly, he’s being swept up and twirled around, and he sees the front door, the yard, the front door again, all blurring before his eyes. “It’s really you!” His head is buried in Tanuma’s shoulder, and he can faintly smell incense and something that distinctly reminds him of home.

Natsume blushes furiously at the thought. “W-well, yes. It’s me. It’s good to see you, Tanuma,” he laughs, a little shakily.

It’s at this moment that Tanuma seems to realize that he has just picked up Natsume and whirled him around, newly-wed style. It takes another moment for them both to realize that no one is moving, and that now they’re just embracing in Tanuma’s doorway.

“Um.”

“Yeah, I’ll just--”

They break apart, eyes shifting everywhere but each other, secret smiles hidden behind their lips. Finally, Natsume gathers the courage to look Tanuma in the eye, and finds that Tanuma is already looking at him, something unbearably fond in his face. He allows the secret to be known, and Tanuma smiles back.

“Welcome home,” he says, his voice warm. “Would you like to come in?”

Natsume is spared from answering by a Nyanko-sensei, who has picked himself off the dusty ground and sauntered in without invitation. “Yes, I would, thank you for asking. Also, I know humans have pitifully short lives, and therefore you are technically adults, but please. What are you two, in grade school?”

Tanuma simply laughs as he steps inside, gesturing for Natsume to follow. “Good to see you too, Ponta.”

~

_He can feel the wind threading its way through his hair as he stands. He reaches behind him, into his bag, and runs his fingers over the smooth binding before taking out the Book of Friends._

_“Are you sure about this, Natsume?” asks Sensei, as he eyes the little flower grave warily. “Names have power. Even if it is a human name, it is still her’s. You should at least give it to me to look after.”_

_Natsume doesn’t respond for a moment, instead opening the book, once full of parchment and ink, to the last page._

_There, in quick, scrawling characters, is the name of his own grandmother._

_“Yes, Sensei. Even if she isn’t here anymore, I still think that she should have at least this.”_

_Nyanko-sensei shifts his eyes from Reiko’s grave to Natsume’s face. They are no longer the eyes of a lucky cat, but of a beast._

_“You are a fool. Sentiment will get you nowhere.”_

_A pause. He closes the book, then places it beside him carefully._

_“Humans are like that, Sensei.”_

_~_

“So, what have you been up to?” asks Tanuma as he pours their tea. “It’s been pretty quiet around here ever since you left. Taki says she hasn’t drawn any of her dad’s circles in awhile.”

Natsume studies the steam unfurling from the edge of his cup before gathering his courage to meet Tanuma’s eyes. “Oh, nothing special. Just teaching. How about you? I hear that your aunt’s hot springs business is doing really well thanks to a certain someone.”

Tanuma laughs, an easy sound that lifts something high in Natsume’s stomach and flings it unceremoniously towards his chest. “Just like you, Mr. ‘Nothing Special.’ We both know that all of those kids love you.”

Natsume wills the red in his ears to _go away._ “Well, I do have trouble with some students from time to time, but they do seem to like me. They’re good kids.”

“I would like you too, if you were my teacher,” replies Tanuma wistfully. A moment later, his ears are matching Natsume’s. “I mean-! I already like you, I was just saying that if you were my teacher I would also like you. It’s not—aaand I’ve just made it worse. Please ignore all of that--”

“It’s ok, Tanuma,” Natsume mumbles, his gaze very decidedly locked back at his tea. “Thank you,” he adds a moment later, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“I’m glad.”

Natsume peeks up from his tea to see Tanuma running his hand through his hair in distress. It does not do Natsume’s heart any favors. “So…what about you?” he asks, a little hastily.

Tanuma seems to perk up. “Me! That’s right. Well, I’m still working for my aunt, helping her manage her inn and all. Since tourist season is over I’m in town for a few days to visit my dad, and…yeah. That’s about it.”

“I’m sure your aunt really appreciates all your hard work,” Natsume says genuinely. “It must be difficult, having to commute back and forth so often.”

“I hope I’m doing enough,” Tanuma admits. He twirls his long fingers over the rim of his own teacup idly. “I still get headaches from time to time, but they always go away after I have those little candies that Ito-san gives me.”

 _The old lady youkai_ , Natsume remembers. He smiles, glad that someone is looking after Tanuma in his stead.

“Also…”

Natsume looks at him questioningly.

“How are you doing…with the youkai?” Tanuma’s voice is hesitant, as if he is unsure if he is allowed to ask.

Natsume wishes he didn’t have to ask with such uncertainty, that he didn’t have to look as if he was intruding on something. Ten years of knowing each other, and yet Tanuma still hesitates.

But at the same time, he does not look at Natsume like he is weak. Like he needs to be protected.

_Somewhere, in the back of Natsume’s mind, he realizes that this is why he loves Tanuma._

Nyanko-sensei’s ears twitch, as if sensing a change in the wind.

(A change that has been very gradual, and a long time coming, but a change nonetheless).

Natsume smiles softly at him.

He may be taller than when they had first met, his shoulders a little broader, his limbs perhaps not as thin, but he is still the anxious boy with the mop of messy black hair that Natsume approached all those years ago, the first person he had ever revealed his Sight to.

He thinks that it would be nice to let him know how much he has appreciated all these years.

“I’m doing well, actually.” At Tanuma’s skeptical look, he laughs lightly. “Honestly. I’m no longer in possession of the Book of Friends. It’s in its rightful place, now.”

“A pity, really,” Nyanko-sensei comments. “I had half a mind to eat him when he returned the last name.”

Tanuma blinks in surprise. He seems to want to ask when Natsume had done so, and for whom, but he does not press further. Instead he asks, “Does this mean that they’ll leave you alone, now?”

Natsume shrugs. “So far, all the youkai I’ve encountered have pretty much let me be. If things ever do get out of hand, Sensei is always there for me.” He goes to scratch Sensei’s ears fondly. “Right, Nyanko-Sensei?”

“Don’t get full of yourself. I’m just here now because Touko makes good food, and it’s interesting to see you make a fool of yourself in front of the little brats,” Sensei retorts, but he allows Natsume to pet his ears with a purr. As an afterthought, he adds, “However, the small humans give me food during break, too, so it’s not so bad.”

Natsume flicks Nyanko-sensei’s ears in exasperation. “Don’t make fun of my students, Sensei.” He turns to Tanuma, hoping that he can read the honesty in his eyes, in his words. “Everything is actually wonderful, Tanuma. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Of course.” Tanuma breathes a sigh of relief. His shoulders slouch over, and he raises a hand to his face, muffling his voice. “I’m so glad. If anything were to happen to you…”

Another awkward silence falls.

Finally, Natsume nearly whispers, “You, too. I don’t know what I would do if you…got hurt, either.” He decides that, in this particular moment, the fishpond just outside is the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.

He’s not looking at Tanuma, so it’s a surprise when he feels his hand covering his own, the touch feather-light. His eyes widen, pulse quickens, breath stops short. Slowly, slowly, he tilts his head to meet Tanuma’s gaze, gold meeting black.

 _His hand is warm_.

He smiles shyly. Tanuma’s face is just as red as his, but at this point, he doesn’t care. They move together closer, ever so steadily, until Tanuma’s eyes reflect in his own.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” says Nyanko-sensei loudly, from his perch on the pillow next to Natsume. “You two are hopeless. Just confess already.” They spring apart almost immediately.

“Ponta--!”

“Sensei--!”

“What?” he sniffs haughtily. “This is the most disastrous attempt at conversation I’ve ever seen.”

Natsume takes Tanuma’s hand fully in his own, and gives a gentle squeeze. Tanuma squeezes back, a smile of his own mirroring Natsume’s.

“I never was any good with talking,” Tanuma grins. “You, Natsume?”

Natsume marvels at how long Tanuma’s eyelashes are before replying. “Nope.”

The shadows of the fish dance along the ceiling.

Fascinating, indeed.

~

_After a little digging with the spade, his brow is slightly tinged with sweat. The sun has not fully risen yet, and a cool morning breeze whistles at his ears, but it is still fairly warm out._

_Spring turning to autumn, but not quite yet._

_“Are you done yet?” Sensei asks, impatient. “I’m hungry.”_

_“Almost there,” he replies, placing the small shovel next to him._

_He picks up the thin book for the second time, and opens it to the last page._

_Then, as if preparing himself, he looks at it for one last time._

_He lets his lips fall around the familiar words._

_“‘O the one who protects me. Show me your name.’”_

_The wind quiets, the morning birds cease their song for a moment, the creatures of the forest still. It is as though the world is holding its breath._

_“Natsume Reiko, I return your name.”_

Breathe in.

_“Please take it.”_

_He tears the parchment out. Folds it in half. Places it between his lips. Claps his hands together, as if he were praying. Closes his eyes._

Breathe out.

_Somewhere, far away, a bell rings, high and clear. The warm breeze clatters against a set of wind chimes. It is not summer yet, but it will be soon._

_A promise on lips curved into a mischievous smile. A challenge, a duel, a loss._

_The wind makes its way to his side, riling up the forest and its creatures one last time with the promise of warmer days and sunshine, even though the earth has already promised colder nights and moonlight. (The trees, with their browning leaves, can attest to this)._

_“You are just like your grandmother,” the wind giggles to him, a hint of fondness in its voice. “Always stirring up trouble.”_

_When he opens his eyes, the wind has passed, and the world has restarted. The sun has risen fully, its light bathing the morning sky in gold and grey, purple and pink._

_“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Nyanko-sensei scoffs. “Reiko was human, after all.”_

_Natsume smiles. He places the single sheet of paper back in its original binding, then lowers the Book of Friends into the little alcove he dug earlier._

_It isn’t until after he has pressed the dirt back over the spot he has marked, and gently places a single flower over it, that he answers._

_“Yes, she was, wasn’t she?”_

  _He rises to his feet, head held high. From here, on top of the hill, he can see his home; every road, every river, every season he has lived here._

_He wonders if Reiko ever stood on this hill and thought the same._

_He hopes so._

_“Let’s go home, Nyanko-sensei.”_

Ten years later, he returns the final name, and says goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wondered what would happen if Reiko had written her name in the book, maybe before she died, just to kinda...leave her mark on the world, I guess? Lol I'm not sure if this is plausible, but I went with it anyway!  
> Hope you enjoyed!


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